Hailing from Minneapolis / St. Paul, Minnesota and established in 2003, Pert’ Near Sandstone plays American stringband music that melds old-time sensibilities with modern song craft. Founded by four childhood friends, Pert Near’s chemistry harkens back to the family bands of yesteryear. They play with infectious energy and an undeniable joy that cuts straight to the heart. They are tireless stewards of the midwest roots music community, and proud co-founders and hosts of the Blue Ox Music Festival. Gathered around a single microphone, Pert Near has delivered their unique brand of stringband music to fans across generations and genres all over the world. They keep traditional songs from the American Canon alive, write new songs that sound like they’ve always been with us and their influence can be heard across the musical landscape of the midwest and beyond.

Them Coulee Boys:

Them Coulee Boys craft a brand of Americana that blends punk, bluegrass, and rock & roll. Somewhere underneath the energy, the exuberance, the wit, and the passion of Them Coulee Boys lies a heart. It’s a heart filled with sincerity, honesty, and the will to make the world a better place. This heart is not only evident in every song, but also in Them Coulee Boys as a whole. These songs are meant for dancing, for excitement, but are also for thought, and for the quiet moments. Them Coulee Boys seek to balance the high with the low, the happy with the sad, and the love with pain. It’s how we live our lives, and they make music that reflects that.

Barbaro:

Barbaro’s music is at once lively and intimate, perfect for twirling around the dance floor or cooking with someone you love. The Minneapolis-Winona quartet have built momentum around their dynamic sound, each set flowing naturally between energetic jams and contemplative interludes. Their upcoming album, due out spring 2019, showcases their captivating songwriting, layered over textures pulled from bluegrass, jazz, pop, and country-western.

Barbaro has performed at premier Midwest music festivals including Blue Ox, Boats & Bluegrass, and MBOTMA. In 2018, the band released their first EP and claimed two contest wins, at the John Hartford Memorial Festival Band Contest and MBOTMA’s Americana Roots Band Contest.